Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Just a little bit about the new ministries that i'll be working with here in Guatemala!

Corazon De Amor

This clinic is about 5 blocks from my apartment in zone 3 of Guatemala City, in a community that is close to the garbage dump. The clinic is run by Dr. Layla, who is a Guatemala who grew up in zone 3 and who now faithfully serves the people who live in the garbage dump communities. Her husband is a Pastor of a church in a nearby community! On a normal day, we see about 35 patients come through the clinic. When a medical team came and we had a few extra doctors and nurses, we were seeing 200 patients a day! She does not charge for visits or medications, all the money and supplies to run the clinic comes from donations!
My teammate Alaina is also a nurse, and in May we will begin some community health teaching projects alongside of the clinic!!! Our first topic will be prevention of mosquito born diseases as rainy season will be coming!
It's been exciting to see the Lord connect me to this ministry and open the doors for me to work with them! I look forward to being a part of all the Lord is doing through this clinic!!! I will mostly be working at the clinic on Monday and Wednesday and doing community health teaching on Tuesday.

The street leading to the clinic, Corazon de Amor

The outside gate

Courtyard shared by clinic and a school - the clinic is the green building

Inside Corazon de Amor, overflowing with people!!!!

Salud Que Transforma

This is a clinic that is about 1 hour away in the city of Palin. The clinic is run by Dr. Erick, who is also the Pastor of a church in the same community. The clinic is staffed by Guatemalan doctors, dentists, and nurses, and is open 24/7. They also have a nursing school that meets every Saturday for a year, as well as community outreaches 3 times a week. The community outreaches have been my main area of involvement and I really enjoy that! A community outreach involves a couple nurses, a doctor and a dentist going to another community within maybe an hour radius and holding clinic in a school or church. Then, once a month, there is a small group that travels up to the rural mountain clinics to hold clinic in very remote areas with little access to health care. There are some individuals who live there and they have trained so that they can provide basic medical care and education!

There is a small fee associated with medical/dental visits, but all medications are then free. They still depend on lots of donations to keep the clinic running, and pay salaries!!!

It's been wonderful to work alongside of the nurses at this clinic! We have many laughs when I end up driving my car to one of the rural clinics because there always seems to be some sort of adventure that goes along with it!!!
I'm currently committed to work with this clinic on Thursdays and Fridays.

A view of Salud Que Transforma from the church. The clinic is the 2 story building on the right side of the photo. You can see that the volcanoes are much closer to this town than where I live in the capital!!! To the left is Volcan Fuego, which is the active volcano that you can see a gray cloud of ash coming out of the top, and from this clinic you can hear rumblings when it's erupting!!! Next to that is another volcano, but it's hidden behind the clouds, that one is inactive!!! To the right is Volcan Agua, also inactive!

Just a few of the amazing nurses I get to work with!!!

Starting an IV at a community outreach

Both clinics have so many other things happening as they try to improve the health of their communities. They both have water treatment programs to provide clean water at a lower cost, as well as programs for children to provide a meal, a Bible lesson, help with homework, and medical care!

Most importantly, these clinics desire to provide excellent healthcare, and serve the people with dignity, while also helping them to understand that their ultimate hope and healing can only come through faith in Jesus Christ!!!